Another Hero
by Wolf of the Black Rose
Summary: Just another story with a side character having a larger role. More info, it will be like Four Wild Hearts on a smaller scale. Torrey has had some rotten luck a lot in his life. Hopefully, things will change when he goes to Duel Academy. Things change, just not in the way he expected.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey, I have a new story.**

 **Rose: What's this one?**

 **Back when I thought up Four Wild Hearts, I had another idea for a solo job with Torrey.**

 **Casey: So, only Torrey will have a bigger part?**

 **Yes, also he'll have a different deck and no past connection with Jaden.**

 **Sakura: So, a little something else for the fans.**

 **Hai! Anyway, disclaimer!**

 **Caden: Wolf doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh GX or any of it's characters. She only owns her OC's and any cards she makes up.**

 **Enjoy!**

Chapter 1: A New Magician on the Block

Welcome to Domino City, home of some of the world's greatest duelists, including Seto Kaiba the CEO of Kaiba Corp., Joey Wheeler, a duelist with an extreme amount of good luck, and the King of Games himself: Yugi Muto. It's also home to the Kaiba Dome, where young duelists come to apply for the most famous dueling school in the country: Duel Academy. In fact, one duelist was on his way there right now. His name: Torrey Miller.

"Alright, here we go. Let's make some magic." Torrey said as he looked over his deck and walked up the hill towards his destination.

He's a tall and slim guy with brown hair that goes a little past his shoulders and brown eyes behind a pair of thin, rectangular glasses. His outfit consists of a white tunic-like shirt, blue jeans, brown cowboy boots, no spurs, and a reddish brown aviators' jacket.

As soon as he got there, he registered for the tests and had his deck checked for illegal cards. After a while, he was shown to the duel field where all students, new and old, were hanging out and checking out the competition.

Most of the students he noticed wore red, yellow, or blue uniforms. _'Must be Academy students.'_

Down below, Torrey noticed a duel going on between a boy about his age wearing a grayish-white uniform and a dueling proctor. On the field in front of the proctor were two defense position monsters known as Gear Golem the Moving Fortress (800/2200) and Big Shield Guardna (100/2600). The monster opposing the duel proctor was Vorse Raider (1900/1200) and there was also a face down spell/trap card.

"Alright new guy," The proctor called to the boy. "Multiple choice; you have two monsters staring ya down, do you A: throw in the towel, B: beg for mercy, or C: run home to mama?"

"I'll go with D: none of the above!" The boy with dark hair announced before the face down flipped up.

"A trap!?" the proctor asked, shocked.

"Exactly," Bastion said with a smirk and then went on to explain. "You see, with Ring of Destruction I can destroy any monster on the field that's in attack position and we both take damage equal to its attack points."

A ring of red bombs appeared around Vorse Raider's neck and exploded on impact, dropping the boy's life points to 1300. while the proctor's dropped to zero ending the duel. The holograms disappeared and the proctor spoke.

"Clever move, applicant," He said. "Welcome to the academy."

The boy bowed and said, "Thank you oh wise proctor."

 _'Nice one,'_ Torrey thought. ' _Not many duelists can sacrifice their monster's with the odds being completely in their favor like that.'_

Up in the stands, he saw three boys wearing Obelisk Blue uniforms who also watched the boy's duel.

"Wow, that guy's pretty good don't cha think, Chazz?" The boy with blue hair, glasses, and a southern accent said.

"Guess the rumors about him being some kind of whiz kid were true, hun Chazz, huh?" The boy with short, spiky brown hair asked in a thick voice.

"He's a punk," The person they were talking to, a spiky, black haired kid named Chazz, said. "We went to Duel Prep school for the past three years, we're ready for the academy. These kids don't know what they're getting into, but they'll learn… the hard way, the Chazz Princeton way."

 _'Still up on your high horse, huh Chazz?'_ Torrey thought. _'No amount of prep schooling helped you when you were in the arena with me.'_

"Torrey Miller, please report to Dueling Field #2." A voice over the PA announced.

 _'My turn… '_ He thought as he went to the field that was called.

Meanwhile, in another part of the dome, a short boy, with sky blue hair and glasses was also watching Bastion's duel along with another boy about his age. He had short brown hair that looked almost puffy with a light brown patch on top, and chocolate brown eyes. He was wearing a black school uniform over a red t-shirt with red and white sneakers.

"Wow, that last guy really tore it up." He said.

Syrus looked at him. "Yeah, Bastion Misawa; they said he got the highest score on the written exam out of all us applicants."

"Wow, I just barely passed." The brunette said.

"Yeah, me too. My name's Syrus by the way, nice to meet you," Syrus then looked away slightly depressed. "I kinda have this thing where I get test anxiety. I don't know how I won my match."

"So you're in!" He exclaimed slapping Syrus on the back, startling him. "Congratulations, I'll be in too as soon as I win my duel."

"What, you haven't dueled yet?" Syrus asked shocked at his naivety.

"Nope." The brunette replied, still excited about the last match.

"Then you might have a problem, there's one more duel after Bastion's and it's about to start." Syrus explained before turning his attention to the duel field where Torrey's duel was about to happen.

Torrey rose up on an elevated platform wearing his duel disk, the one he got for his birthday. In front of him was a man wearing the blue outfits of the dueling proctors. The man looked at Torrey with an assessing gaze.

"Alright, applicant," he said in a tone of authority. "What is your name?"

"Torrey Miller, sir." Torrey replied, respectfully.

"Well you know the rules: you win, you're in," The proctor said, starting up his duel disc. "Lose, better luck next year."

"Oh, I'll be in _this_ year," Torrey said, starting up his duel disk. "You can count on it!"

"Duel!"

Proctor: 4000  
Torrey: 4000

"Let the magic show begin!" Torrey said, starting his turn. He looked over what he had and smiled. "I summon Summoner Monk!"

A blue skinned old man in blue and white robes appeared, sitting in a lotus position like Yoda (800/1600).

"Once summoned, he automatically moves into defense mode. Since he's done that, I'll activate his effect," He discarded a card from his hand. "By sending a spell from my hand to the graveyard, I can special summon a monster from my deck. So, I summon Rapid-Fire Magician in defense mode!"

A male magician appeared wearing a purple suit with a matching hat and cape carrying two silver scepters with whites orbs (1600/1200).

"And that ends my turn!"

"Okay, my move!" The proctor drew his card.

"First, I play Smashing Ground to destroy your monk!" A giant fist out of the sky and smashed the monk.

Despite the loss of one of his monsters, Torrey wasn't phased. "Sorry, but by playing a spell card while Rapid-Fire Magician's out causes 400 points of damage!"

One of the orbs on the mage's scepters lite up red and was then launched at the proctor.

Proctor: 3600

Torrey: 4000

"Then I'll put a stop to that with my Mad Sword Beast!" A dinosaur on all fours with a tough green hide appeared (1400/1200). "And it can cause piercing damage when it attacks a monster in defense mode, so I can get at your life points!"

The proctor has his dino charge the magician, destroying him.

Proctor: 3600

Torrey: 3800

"I'll end my turn with one card face down." A facedown card appeared at the proctor's feet. "Your move, applicant."

"Okay, draw!" Torrey drew his next card.

"First, I play Mystical Space Typhoon!" A mini-tornado blew away the proctor's facedown.

"Now that that's out of the way, I summon Gemini Elf!" Two female elves who are assumed to be twins appeared on the field. One was a blond with blue dress that reached her mid-thighs, and the other was a redhead with a long purple dress with slips up the sides, showing off her legs (1900/900).

"Attack Mad Sword Beast!" Both elves raised a hand and shot a magic orb at the dino, hitting it in the head.

Proctor: 3100

Torrey: 3800

"Now, I'll finish up with a facedown."

"Impressive move, applicant," The procter praised as he drew his next card. "Now, let's see your next move! I summon Soul Tiger in defense mode!"

A blue flamed tiger appeared and crouched on the ground (0/2100). "Your move…"

"Thanks!" He said as he drew. He looked over his hand and smirked. He has this in the bag.

"I activate my facedown, Magical Dimension!" A gold and black coffin appeared. "By sacrificing my elves, I can bring out another spellcaster."

The coffin drew in the elves and closed. "Now, I can bring out out my Chaos Command Magician!"

The coffin re-opened, showing a blue-skinned spellcaster. The magician wore dark green robes and a hood with a scepter of the same color with a red spherical jewel (2400/1900).

"Now, my spell can do something else, and that's take out your only monster!" The coffin shot off a blast that grabbed the tiger and pulled it inside and into the graveyard.

"And since I haven't normal summoned yet, I'll bring out a Magician's Valkyria!" A female magician, similar to the Dark Magician Girl appeared. The only differences were that she was a redhead, the skirt was purple, and the scepter was bigger with a bejeweled hook on the end (1600/1800).

"Now, I'll both my monsters attack and end this duel!" Both mages crossed scepters, charged up their magical energies, and struck the proctor dead on.

Proctor: 0

Torrey: 3800

"A great finishing move!" The proctor smiled. "Welcome to the Academy."

"Thank you, sir." Torrey bowed and then left the field.

Up in the stands, another couple of individuals from the very top were watching Torrey's duel with interest. A girl with sandy blond hair that reached to about her mid-back with caramel like eyes and wearing the Obelisk Blue girls uniform and a taller boy with blue hair that reached his shoulders and blue eyes wearing the third year's uniform. The girl was Alexis Rhodes, a first year students, and the boy was Zane Truesdale, a third year student and the top duelist at Duel Academy.

"Looks like Torrey strikes again, he'll make this year interesting." Alexis said as the duel ended.

Zane just stayed silent, not really giving his opinion.

Right below them, where the faculty was sitting, the teachers were talking about the duelists as Torrey left the arena.

"Looks like we've got a pretty good crop this year." One of them said.

"Yes, indeed." Another agreed.

Also next to them, another teacher sat there silent not paying much attention the teacher's talk. He could easily be mistaken for woman, but never tell him that. He wore a blue blazer with gold accents and pink ruffles. He had long blond hair in a ponytail and purple lipstick. This is Dr. Vellian Crowler, headmaster of the Obelisk Blue boys dorm.

He was about to get up and leave when…

"I'm sorry to interrupt," A man in a dark suit, came up to them. "But one last applicant has arrived to to take his exam, Mr. Crowler."

"Did you just call me, 'mister'?" Crowler asked with a slight scowl.

"I'm sorry," The man apologized. "I'm new here Miss…"

Before he could continue, Crowler interrupted him. "I have a PhD in dueling to earn the title 'doctor' thank you." He then looked away. "Now tell the truant that he'll have to come back next year."

The other teachers looked at him like he was a tyrant.

"Come on, Dr. Crowler, we have time for one more."

"Yes, let's give this duelist his shot." They pleaded with him, which got on Crowler's nerves.

"He was just a bit late, what's the harm."

Crowler was annoyed when they started pleading, but that last comment sent him over the edge.

"LATE IS RUDE!" He snapped, startling everyone in the booth. "I have no time for slackers!"

Before he could rant further, his cellphone went off. "Yes, and who may I ask is calling…?"

 _"It's Sheppard."_ Answered the voice on the other end.

"Ah, Chancellor Sheppard, how nice of you to call." Crowler greeted in a pleasant tone.

 _"Just calling to make sure everything's running smoothly, Crowler,"_ The chancellor said. _"We wouldn't want a repeat of what happened last year."_

That caused Crowler to look uneasy as he remembered. _"When you cut a third of our applicants for some ridiculous reason. What was it, calling you mister or missus? Never mind, just make sure that everyone gets a fair shot."_

"Yes, of course," Crowler said before hanging up the phone with a scowl. "Furry-chinned windbag!"

 _'Doesn't she and Sheppard know that there are enough talentless flunkies at this academy? But Sheppard's the boss, and if he wants to give this scrim shaker a duel… fine.'_

He then got up from his seat. "Pardon me, gentlemen, I'll be right back." But before he could leave, one of the teachers picked up a box of decks.

"Wait, who will be the boy's dueling proctor and which exam deck shall we use?" he asked, now confused along with everyone else.

Crowler just huffed and walked away. "Leave that to me." He said mysteriously.

"Whoa, he managed to do that in just a few turns." Syrus said, staring at the spellcaster duelist.

"And he hardly lost any life points." The brunette boy added, and got a big smile on his face. "I wouldn't mind dueling that guy and his deck!"

"You mean Torrey Miller?" They both turned to see Bastion taking a seat in the row in front of Syrus. "A smart yet strange individual, he was able to score second best after me on the written exam."

"Wow, that is smart if he was able to almost match that score." Syrus stable.

"By the way, tight duel Bastion!" The mystery boy exclaimed.

"Thank you."

"From where I stand, you just might just be the second best duelist here!" He said, confusing Bastion.

But before he could ask what he meant, an announcement came on. "Jaden Yuki, please report to exam field four."

"Go time!" The boy, whose name was Jaden said as he got ready to go. "Wish me luck, guys."

"Wait," Bastion interrupted him. "If I'm second best, who's first?"

Jaden smiled and pointed a thumb at himself. "Yours truly, it's what I'm best at." He then walked down to the field with a confident stride.

"He's so sure of himself. I wonder if he's really that good." Syrus noticed.

"He's going to need to need to be," Bastion said, looking at the duel field in question. "Look who he's dueling…"

"Yeah…" Bastion and Syrus turned to see Torrey looking down at the field from the top of the stairs. "Who's he?"

" _He_ is Dr. Crowler, he's in charge of the exams and the head of the Duel Academy's top dorm." Bastion replied.

"That's a guy..." Torrey deadpanned.

"Very, also congratulations on winning your match." Bastion said.

"Thanks." Torrey replied.

Crowler was down on the field, being prepped for the duel. His duel disk looked like it was attached to his uniform, at least the part that held the graveyard and deck did. The tray part was held in his hands like a guitar.

Soon, Jaden rose up on a platform, looking around in awe at the place like a little kid.

"Alright, test time!" Crowler said looking at Jaylen with confidence. "So, son, your name?"

Jaden turned and focused his attention on the teacher. "Jaden, Jaden Yuki."

"Well, Jaden Yuki, I'm Doctor Vellian Crowler, Department Chair and Techniques professor here at Duel Academy." Crowler introduced himself with pride dripping from his voice.

"Oh, you're a teacher," Jaden said, rubbing the back of his head, embarrassed. "From how you were dressed, I thought you were the school cheerleader." He laughed lightly at that.

Crowler just sweatdropped at that.

"Now that he mentions it..." The boy wearing glasses, who we will call Torimaki, said.

"That kid's got some lip, huh Chazz?" said the other guy, who we will call Raizou.

Chazz was not pleased at what Jaden was saying down there.

Crowler activated what he called his duel vest and drew his opening hand. Jaden was amazed by the machinery, thinking it looked cool.

"That's some impressive gear you have there." Jaden said with an awed smile.

"Well, thank you." Crowler said, though he really didn't mean it.

"Well, I'm ready! Time to throw down!" Jaden said excitedly, activating his duel disk and drawing his opening hand.

"Duel!"

Crowler: 4000  
Jaden: 4000

"Here goes." Jaden said as he drew his first card. He looked over his hand and smiled.

"Sweet, I'm going to summon Elemental Hero Avian in defense mode!" A green bird man appeared and knelt down in a defense position (1000/1000).

"Then I'll throw down a facedown." A facedown card appeared behind the monster.

"A hero user." Torrey murmured.

"Huh?" asked Syrus.

"He's using the Elemental Hero archetype that relies heavily on fusion strategies." Bastion explained.

"And it's hard to use that deck properly," Torrey added. "The archetype came out a few years ago, and became quite popular."

"Alright, teach, get your game on!" Jaden said excitedly.

"Yes, of course," Dr. Crowler said dismissively as he drew his card. "Don't tell me what to do."

 _'After all since I'm using my own personal deck rather than one of those puny test decks, I'll be calling all the shots. I'll fail this miserable little brat and send her home in no time.'_ He grinned when he saw the cards in his hand. "I think I'll start out nice and easy, by playing the spell card Confiscation!"

"Okay, so what's it do?" Jaylen asked, starting to get nervous

"What it does is allow me to pay 1000 life points to take a look at your hand and then send one of your cards to the graveyard." As he was explaining, Jaden's hand glowed, startling him, and then holographic images of those cards appeared in front of Crowler. They were Monster Reborn, Polymerization, The Warrior Returning Alive, and Hero Signal.

"Ah yes, I remember some of these back from when I was a naive rookie." This comment caused Jaden to growl, but Crowler didn't notice.

"Now which one shall I banish?" He looked at each card carefully before making a decision. "Monster Reborn to the graveyard!" Jaden's card was sent there.

"Next, I'll set two cards face down," Two facedowns appeared in front of Crowler and then he held up one more card. "And last, but not least, I play Heavy Storm! This spell destroys every other spell and trap card that's out on the field."

A heavy wind picked up and Jaden's face down, Draining Shield, was destroyed along with Crowler's two face-downs. Jaden saw that.

"Whoopsie, did you forget that you had two cards on the field too?" Jaden said teasingly.

"Now, now, you mustn't speak out-of-turn, young lady." Crowler countered. After that dark clouds began to form around his side of the field.

"Hey, what's happening?" The brunette asked, nervously.

"Nothing's happening," Crowler said dismissively before adding, "Not yet!"

Just as he did, two gold dragon-worm-like creatures appeared on his side of the field. "But that's about to change."

The audience was amazed by the two creatures but Syrus was confused. "Could someone tell me what's going on?"

"Those two that Dr. Crowler had out were called Statue of the Wicked." Bastion explained as he observed the duel. "It's a special trap that creates a vicious monster token when it's destroyed by a card effect. That's why he played Heavy Storm."

"Speaking of Heavy Storm, I don't think that's a test deck." Torrey deduced, suspiciously.

"Why's that?" Syrus asked.

"Of course! And that goes the same for a card like Confiscation; they're both rare cards that can change the tide of the battle without any serious costs!" Bastion realized.

They girls weren't the only ones who came to that conclusion.

"A card that strong couldn't be in the test decks, Crowler must be using his own." Torimaki said.

"Then this duel's over," Raizou said. "No one can beat the deck of an expert like Dr. Crowler."

"Yeah, it's impossible, don't ya think Chazz?"

"Yeah, what do you think, Chazz?"

Chazz grinned at this. "I think I'm going to enjoy watching Crowler wipe the floor with our mouthy little friend down there. I just wish he had treated all the other second-rate duelists that applied to the academy the same way."

"What an elitist snob," Alexis said. "Bullying some amateur with his very best cards."

"You're too soft, Alexis," Zane spoke up, causing Alexis to look at him. "I just hope we get to see that legendary rare card Crowler has stashed away in that deck of his."

"Ready for your next lesson?" Crowler called to Jaden on the other side of the field.

"You bet!" Jaden answered with excitement in his voice. "Take your best shot!"

Crowler regarded that negatively. "Very well."

His tokens started to glow and writhe in flames. "Now I sacrifice my two Wicked Tokens to summon the Ancient Gear Golem!"

In place of Crowler's tokens stood a giant robotic creature with the working gears clearly seen. Once again the audience was amazed at the sight of the monster, more so than its stats (3000/3000).

"There it is! That's his legendary rare card!" Alexis gasped.

Even Zane's eyes widened a bit. "Now it looks like we're about to find out what makes it so legendary."

"Woah! That monster could stand toe to toe with Blue-Eyes White Dragon?!" Torrey shouted.

"Now, now, I hope you're not too scared of my legendary Ancient Gear Golem." Crowler said sarcastically toward Jaden.

Jaden, however, was having a blast! "No way! I've always wanted to take one on!"

This shocked many people, including Syrus. "Either Jaden's brave or he's nut!"

"Man's got guts, I'll give him that!" Torrey said, just as shocked as Syrus.

"He's staring down that legendary rare monster like she doesn't have a care in the world," Zane said, incredulously. "I guess the youth and inexperience have their benefits."

"Give it a rest, Zane," Alexis said, getting tired of Zane's attitude. "At least the kid's showing some backbone."

"There won't be much to show after this." Zane retorted.

Dr. Crowler cackled as he ordered, "Golem attack! Mechanized Melee!" His Ancient Gear Golem's single red eye glowed slightly before pulling back its fist and pounding Avian into pixels.

"Oh man, Jaden's didn't stand a chance!" Syrus fretted as he watched the duel. "Its defense points were way too low. This doesn't look good."

"And it's about to get worse," Bastion said as he remembered what he knew about Ancient Gear Golem. "When Ancient Gear Golem attacks a monster in defense mode, the difference between its attack points and the opposing monster's defense points are dealt to the opponent as damage."

"But that would mean that Jaden's life points are gonna take a hit!" Syrus cried as he realized what was going to happen.

Just as he said that, a transparent version of Ancient Gear Golem's fist slammed through Jaden's body, causing him to fall to his knees.

Jaden: 2000  
Crowler: 3000

"Ow, already down to half," Ziva said, wincing. "He's gotta step up his game if he wants to win."

Crowler noticed Jaden was shaking as he got up and laughed. "Now, now don't feel bad. Not everyone has what it takes to get into the top dueling school in the country…" Crowler trailed off when he realized that Jaylen was laughing not crying.

"Oh, wow! Now I so want to get into this school!" Jaden exclaimed getting up with fire burning in his eyes.

This took Crowler by surprise before scowling angrily. _'Doesn't he get it? He will_ not _be admitted into this school! And he will certainly not make a mockery of my deck!'_

 _'Just look at him tremble,'_ Jaden thought with a grin as he reached to draw a card from his deck. _'I must have him terrified of my skills!'_

As he was about to draw her card, he heard a faint cooing sound. He paused for a second before drawing a card and taking a look at it. He smiled when he saw what it was. It was the card he got from a _very_ familiar man he ran into on the way there. He also remembered what he said about this card belonging with him. _'You know, I'm starting to believe that too.'_

For a moment, he thought the card winked at him! He was shocked at first but then made a decision. _'I'm gonna take that as a sign to play ya.'_

"Okay, I summon Winged Kuriboh in defense mode!" With that, a small, brown furry creature furry creature with green paws and white wings appeared in front of the brunette (300/200).

"Next, I play a card face-down. Not bad, huh teach?" He finished as a card appeared behind the little fur ball.

"Looks like Hero Boy's safe." Torrey commented.

"What do you mean?" Syrus asked.

"Just watch."

Crowler laughed at the play. "Not bad, but I'm a master technician, you see." He taunted Jaden. "A Kuriboh is rather pedestrian to me; even one with wings you see. It's a textbook mistake, don't feel bad. Now let's proceed."

He drew his next card. "Now Ancient Gear Golem, attack that Kuriboh with Mechanized Melee!" Again, the giant robot pulled back its' fist and punched the tiny creature to pieces.

Jaden winced. _'Sorry, Winged Kuriboh.'_

Dr. Crowler noticed that Jaden's life point meter hadn't gone down. "Check your gear, your life points haven't changed."

Jaden smirked lightly. "My gear's fine," She said. "On the turn Winged Kuriboh's destroyed, I take zero damage."

That got a surprise out of Crowler. Even some of the audience members were surprised by the turn of events.

"How 'bout that," Alexis stated, almost sarcastically. "A technique the good doctor didn't know."

"No one can be expected to know every technique, Alexis," Zane argued in a scolding tone. "Especially one as obscure as that."

"Yeah, well that kid sure knew it." Alexis countered with a slight smile.

Torrey snickered slightly at Crowler's reaction. "People really need to stop underestimating Kuribohs!"

"Fine, fine, I guess your lame little monster saved you there." Crowler taunted as Jaden put Winged Kuriboh in his graveyard.

"Woah, slow down there, teach!" Jaden snapped. "Just because you beat him doesn't give you the right to call him lame!"

"Oh yes, I forgot how attached you new duelists get to your monsters," Crowler taunted again. "I'm sorry."

"Show a little respect, why don't ya?" Torrey muttered.

"You should be sorry," Jaden said, "Because by attacking Winged Kuriboh you set off my trap, one of my favorites too, Hero Signal!" His trap activated, causing a spotlight with a unique H to appear on the ceiling.

"Which lets me bring out my second Elemental Hero," He grabbed a card from his deck and slapped on the duel tray. "I summon Elemental Hero Burstinatrix!"

Out of a column of flames, a gray-skinned woman in a red bodysuit appeared on the field with a twirl (1200/800).

As she landed, Jaden drew his card, starting his turn. "My move!"

He looked at the cards in his hand and made a plan. _'Alright, Winged Kuriboh, this one's for you!'_

He put the card he drew in his hand and selected another card to play. "First, I'll play the spell card The Warrior Returning Alive. This allows me to bring back a warrior monster from my deck to my hand and I choose Avian. And then I'll summon him to the field."

The card came out of the graveyard slot and Jaden then brought the winged hero back to the field to stand next to Burstinatrix.

"Oh, I see, another amateurish mistake, but this is good, this is good, now would anyone like to tell me what our little friend did wrong here…" Crowler taunted, but was cut off by Jaden again.

"Actually, I wasn't done yet." He said. "Yes, I know my two monsters by themselves aren't enough to take down your monster, but together it's another story!"

He then showed one of the last two cards in his hand to Crowler. "And I have just the card to do that! Go Polymerization!"

The two heroes jumped up into the air and swirled together due to the effects of the card. After the two monsters were done, a new monster appeared that had the same color schemes as Avian and Burstinatrix. It also had one of Avian's wings. The only thing that either monster didn't have was the dragon like hand on the monster's right arm and a dragon like tail (2100/1200). "Say hello to Elemental Hero Flame Wingman! Hope your Golem's ready for a clash of the titans!"

"Looks like the duel's almost over." Torrey said.

"So, teach, what do think?" Jaden asked, with a smirk.

"I think you're dueling quite well for an ametur but next time try summoning a monster that has more attack points than what's already out." Crowler said like he was disappointed, but he really didn't see the monster as a threat.

"What's he mean?" Syrus asked, looking at Jaden's monster.

"He means that the Flame Wingman's atk points are too low to defeat the Ancient Gear Golem," Bastion answered. "A shame too, because that Elemental Hero has a powerful ability. Whenever it destroys a monster in battle, the controller of that monster receives the original attack points of that monster as damage."

"Oh man, that would have been the perfect way for Jaden to turn this duel around." Syrus moaned.

"Relax," Torrey said to them. "He's going to be."

"Alright, young scholar," Crowler said, almost exasperated, "I don't mean to rush you but I am a busy man...are you done yet?"

"No way!" Jaden replied. "And, of course I knew my Wingman had less attack points than your Golem," He then placed the last card in his hand into slot for field spells on his disk. "That's why I'm activating this. A field spell called Skyscraper!"

After he played that card, buildings you would see in places like New York, literally started sprouting up on the field. In the middle of it, Crowler's Golem looked like a giant monster attacking the city. Jaden's Wingman was perched on the highest building's lightning rod with it's arms crossed.

"Alright, Flame Wingman," Jaden called out. "Time to show those heroics!"

He pointed at the ancient robot. "Attack that Ancient Gear Golem with Skydive Scorcher!"

Flame Wingman jumped from the building it was standing on and dove towards Crowler's monster, weaving in and out between buildings.

"Fine by me, bring him on," Crowler said like he wasn't worried. "This silly little Skyscraper field spell hasn't lowered my Golem's attack by one point!"

Flame Wingman then landed on the ground in front of the Ancient Gear Golem before leaping up into the air again.

"You know teach, you're right," Jaden revealed, slyly. "What it's done is raise my hero's attack by a grand total of 1000!"

"Wait! Timeout!" Crowler cried, but it didn't stop Flame Wingman's attack as it launched itself at the Ancient Gear Golem, its body covered in flames (2100-3100/1200).

Crowler was freaking out as Jaden's monster slammed into his, making it burst to pieces. "No, it can't be! He was best card!" He cried before being hit in the head by a piece of debris.

"Oh by the way, you should probably know about my Wingman's special ability." Jaden said, his monster landing back in front of him. "When he destroys a monster in battle, the attack points of that monster gets dealt straight to your life points. Sweet, huh?"

"No way…" Crowler muttered. Just as he said that, the remaining shell of Ancient Gear Golem fell on top of Crowler, despite trying to get out of the way.

Jaden: 2000  
Crowler: 0

Jaden pointed his index and middle fingers at Crowler in a sort of salute. "That's game!" He exclaimed. "So, I guess I pass the test, huh teach?"

As the holograms faded, a lot of people were stunned to see that Jaden had beat a teacher, who was using his real deck, in a duel. Crowler was dumbfounded by the whole thing. He was beaten by an amateur who was also late.

"Impossible," Crowler seethed. "There's no way that this delinquent could beat me!"

Up in the stands, Chazz and his flunkies were just as shocked. "It must be dumb luck," Chazz muttered through clenched teeth. "No way Crowler would lose to some flunky!"

Alexis on the other hand was smiling at Jaden's win. "This kid's got a future here." She then noticed that Zane just huffed and walked away.

Syrus was cheering for Jaden. "Yay! Way to play, Jay!"

"Impressive turn around win!" Torrey noted, smiling a little.

 _'Nice,'_ Bastion thought as he watched Jaylen wave to the crowd. _'I could use the competition.'_

Jaden waved to the crowd some more, then took out his new Winged Kuriboh card. "We made it together," He said, smiling. "And from here on out, you and I will be partners."

Again, Jaden could have sworn the card winked at him and he was starting to believe this card may be more special than he had originally believed.

 **And that is that.**

 **Brian: Well, this looks interesting so far.**

 **Just a story I needed to write. Anyway, read, review, and stay tuned.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's an update for** _ **Another Hero**_ **. I'm working on my stories as much as I can, but I'm working on assimilating to life as a working adult out of college, so cut me some slack.**

 **Disclaimer: Wolf doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh GX or any of its characters. She only owns her OC's and any cards she makes up.**

 **Now, on with the story!**

Chapter 2: Welcome to Duel Academy

A few days after the entrance exams, Torrey and the rest of the students that passed the exams were in a plane en route to their new school. He was excited about the new people he would get to meet and duel.

He saw Jaden dozing in his seat next to Syrus, who was staring out the window. Torrey himself was sitting next to Bastion, and they had hit it off.

" _Attention passengers, this is your captain speaking,"_ Said a voice over the intercom. " _If you look out your window you'll see your new home away from home."_

Most of the students did just that and got a good look at the island. It was mainly green due to all the forest areas, and there was even a dormant volcano. But the main attraction was the main building near the center of the island. It was silver, with four gold spires surrounding it. Looking closely, you could see three roofs, blue, yellow, and red, in that order, coming off the main building.

" _Quite a site, isn't it. Okay, please fasten your seatbelts and set your seats in an upright position. Next stop, Academy Island!"_

 _Sometime later_

Torrey soon found himself in a large classroom, as you would find at a university. Before he got there, he had to change into his school uniform. His uniform was blue, so he was instructed to stand with the other kids in blue. He saw Bastion standing with the kids in yellow uniforms, and Jaden and Syrus were standing with the kids in red uniforms.

Seconds later, a man in his mid to late forties appeared on a giant screen in front of them. He was bald with a goatee and wore a red blazer darker than the others over a shirt and tie.

" _Good morning and welcome my students,"_ He said in a pleasant tone.  " _I'm Chancellor Sheppard, the headmaster here at Duel Academy, and you are the best and brightest duelists in the world. Now, please get yourselves settled into your assigned dorms. I hope you find them quite comfortable, depending on how you ranked, of course."_

The students then walked out of the main building and headed off toward their dorm room assignments. Torrey was walking out of the building while looking through his Duel Pilot, a silver PDA they gave to all the students. It held your student ID, student handbook, duel credits from wins that you could use to get booster packs, grades, and it could even make calls and videos.

"So, Obelisk Blue's my dorm," Torrey said, looking through his information. "Room 384."

"Hello, Torrey!" The Spellcaster duelist turned around and saw Bastion walking up to him.

"Hi, Bastion, what's up?" Torrey greeted.

"Just wanted to say congratulations on getting into the top dorm in the school!"

"Yeah, but I'm sure that only happened because I went to Prep School." Torrey sighed, knowing how this worked.

"Oh, don't think like that, old chum," Bastion patted his shoulder reassuringly. "You're a remarkable duelist. You earned your rank."

Torrey looked at him and smiled slightly. "Thanks, Bastion."

His new friend returned the smile. "So, ready to go check out our new dorms?"

Torrey nodded. But they didn't get very far before they heard a familiar voice.

"Well, I don't know about you, Sy, but it looks like I'm in the Slifer Red dorm." It was Jaden sitting near a stone decoration in the courtyard with Syrus. Both were looking through their Duel Pilots.

"That's cool. Same with me." Syrus said.

At that point, Jaden noticed that Bastion and Torrey were almost right next to them. "Hey, you guys in red, too?"

Bastion smiled slightly and looked over himself. "Well now, let's see here, yellow sleeves, yellow buttons. I don't think so."

"Oh, I get it." Jaden realized as he looked at his red blazer. "So that's why Sy and I are in Red."

"Please don't tell me that you just figured that out." Torrey gave him a deadpanned look.

Jaden glared back at him. "So what? Ever think I'm color blind?"

"Well, no, actually, we didn't. Are you color blind?" Bastion asked to clarify.

The brunette snickered. "No, but I could've been."

Torrey then did a double take, recognizing the Slifer. "Oh, it's you, the Hero user! Nice to finally meet you face to face!"

"You're the Spellcaster guy!" Jaden exclaimed. "Good to meet ya, too!"

They shook hands. "See you guys 'round the dorms."

"I doubt that," Bastion pointed towards the other end of the island. "Your dorm's over there."

"And my dorm is in the other direction. See you guys in class." Torrey waved as he walked off, leaving the other three to walk to their dorms.

 _Obelisk Dorm_

The Obelisk dorm was extravagant. All white with a blue roof. The grounds around the building; pristine. It looked like a palace.

To Torrey though, it looked almost like home, which annoyed him very much. "Somebody kill me. Kill me now."

He hated the whole being a rich kid thing, mainly because when people hear that he's rich they either think he's a spoiled brat or they try to be his friend for the benefits that come with it. He was grateful to the family who took him in, but it was quite lonely.

Sighing, he headed inside and was amazed by how lavish it was inside, too. After heading up the stairs, he found his room. It was huge! There was a king size bed, a widescreen TV, a kitchen with a fridge and stove, and even a full-size bathroom with a jacuzzi in it.

"Well, at least I have the room to myself."

" _ **Back to the glitz and glam?"**_ An elegant voice asked.

Torrey turned around to see Mystical Elf and Lyna the Light Charmer, Mystical Elf being the one who spoke. The new Obelisk smiled, the rich kid life may have been lonely, but at least he had his spirits to talk with.

"You could say that." He laughed as he put his things away.

" _ **Hey, what do you think of those other freshmen that you met?"**_ Lyna asked, moving to look over his shoulder as he worked.

Torrey paused before sighing. "They seem nice, but it probably won't last long when they find out my secret."

" _ **I'm sure the people you've met will be understanding, Torrey,"**_ Mystic said, reassuring her master.

" _ **Plus, I don't think that Jaden kid has a bad bone in his body,"**_ Lyna added.

Torrey thought about it and smiled again. "Thanks, girls."

After putting his things away, Torrey stretched and looked around before making a decision. "I'm going to go take a look around."

" _ **Remember, the welcome dinner is in a couple of hours."**_ Mystic reminded him.

"I'll remember." He nodded and then headed out.

 _Slifer Dorm_

The two newly made Slifer Reds headed in the direction Bastion pointed out and found the dorm building. But the place hardly seemed like a dorm. It was more like an old motel with two floors and peeling paint.

Syrus had a very different opinion about it. "This isn't a dorm. It's an outhouse with a deck!"

But Jaden loved it, leaning against the railing to look at the ocean. "No way! Check out this view! This place is great!"

Jaden then moved away from the railing to find their room.

"This one's ours, Sy." He said.

The room had a long, two-seater desk along the left wall, the window right across the room from the door, a three-person bunk bed along the right wall, and a small stove for cooking.

"It's pretty small." Syrus pointed out.

"Hey, you're a small guy," Jaden cracked. "But anyway, I like it! It's a good place to start our first year!"

"Yeah, kinda weird meeting up at the entrance exams, and now we're roommates," Syrus pointed out, starting to daydream about them in Egyptian royal clothing. "You think we're connected in some kind of ancient past life?"

"No offense, but that's just lame," Jaden said.

"Well, it could be true!"

"No way, they broke the mold when they made the two of us!"

"For very different reasons…" Syrus muttered.

"Sy, we're gonna have to work on that confidence," Jaden pointed out, before going to the windows and opening the curtains. "But first, let's work on this pad."

"Hey, those were closed for a reason!" Came an angry voice from the top bunk.

"Oh, sorry," Syrus said.

"Yeah, we didn't see you up there," Jaden added.

"Well, can you see me now?!" The covers pulled back revealing an angry, heavy-set boy with a face and hair that made him look like a koala.

Syrus and Jaden suddenly screamed in fear at the sight of the other boy. "Would you stop your screaming?! Who are you, and what are you doing in my room?"

"Oh, sorry. My name's Jaden Yuki!"

"And I'm Syrus."

"We're your new…" Jaden tried to explain himself, but the boy in bed turned his back to the new kids. "... roommates."

"You're new all right, so lemme tell you how things work here." The boy muttered grouchily.

"What things?"

"Like when parents' weekend gonna be?" Syrus asked.

"Duh, like how the whole color thing works? That's more important than anything." The older boy began to explain.

"Yeah?" Both freshmen asked.

"Ya got three kinds of students here: Obelisk Blue students, Ra Yellow students, and Slifer Red students. Now, the Blues are the highest-ranked students. Most kids 'cuz a' grades, others through connections. The Yellows are second highest, mostly younger students with lotsa potential. Then, there's us, the Red Wonders…"

"The Wonders," Syrus murmured. "That's a cool name."

The large boy continued, ignoring Syrus' comment. "As in 'I wonder how flunkies like us ever got this far,' maybe. Yeah, sorry, but we're bottom of the barrel here. Duelin' duds."

Jaden and Syrus looked at each other for a few minutes before the sleeping boy remembered to introduce himself. "Oh, I'm Chumley, by the way."

 _Main Building_

Torrey made his way to the main building. He wanted to look around as much as he could before dinner. As he walked, he came to a stop at a large part of the main building.

"Wonder what's in here?" He wondered as he was about to go inside.

"There's some kind of duel action goin' on in there."

"How do you know?"

"I just know."

Torrey looked out the window from where he was and saw Jaden approaching with Syrus right behind him. He decided to stay put at that point; they would eventually come to him. Sure enough, Jaden was coming down the hall, Syrus right behind him. They had slowed to a walking pace, and Syrus had caught his breath.

"It's over this way, I'm sure of it," Jaden said, looking around.

"How can you be sure of it? Do you have some kind of sixth sense for dueling or something?" Syrus asked.

Jaden grinned. "It's in the air, Syrus. Can't ya just smell it?"

"Maybe if today's pollen count was lower," Syrus muttered, before noticing Torrey was there.

"What's up, guys?" He greeted them.

"Just checkin' out the place, probably the same as you," Jaden replied.

Torrey nodded. "Big island, isn't it?"

"Yeah, let's go check out some more of it!" Jaden said.

"Are you sure we should be in here?" Syrus asked, but neither responded since they were already moving along.

The trio soon came upon a large room, realizing it was an arena. The place was huge, with stands all around the walls, and a dueling platform in the middle with wires coming out of the base.

"Wow." Torrey was impressed.

"Too cool," Jaden breathed. "This is the sweetest dueling arena I've ever seen."

"Yeah, no kidding. It looks completely state of the art," Syrus said. "I bet it would be amazing to duel here."

"Yeah, it's a nice backdrop, but with duel disks, we can duel anywhere," Torrey noted.

"That's true," Jaden agreed. "Still, let's test this arena out."

"Do you think we're allowed?" Syrus asked, not wanting to get in trouble.

"Sure we're allowed. We're students here, and this is our campus, right?" Jaden pointed out.

"Wrong. This is the Blue Obelisk's campus."

They all turned to see two guys in Obelisk blazers. They were same guys who were hanging out with Chazz; Taiyou Maki and Raizou Goki. He knew these two back at Prep School, and he hated them very much. Plus, if he was right, their 'boss' wasn't too far behind.

"And you Slifer Red rejects aren't welcome here, ya got that?" Raizou pointed behind them. "Check out the crest."

The trio turned to see a large symbol in the shape of Obelisk the Tormentor's head above the entrance to the duel arena.

"This arena's our turf." Taiyou sneered.

"Excuse me?" Torrey interrupted. "I'm an Obelisk, and I want them here."

"No one asked you, Miller!" Taiyou snapped, getting a glare from said person.

"Friends of yours?" Jaden asked, looking at the humble Obelisk.

"Not even close!" Torrey hissed.

"Sorry. We were just looking around, but we'll leave now, right, Jaden?" Syrus shrank away, looking at Jaden.

The brunette shrugged. "Nah, we don't have to leave. Not so long as…"

He turned to the Obelisk snobs. "One of you guys agree to duel me. I'll be a guest duelist."

"Want to make it a tag duel, Jaden?" Torrey asked. "I'd love to knock these guys off their high horses."

The blue haired student looked at Jaden for a moment. "Hey, you're that kid."

Before anyone could say anything, the brown-haired snob turned to someone up in the stands. "Chazz, that applicant who beat Dr. Crowler is here. Check it out."

The gang turned to see a taller boy in blue with spiky black hair and cold gray eyes staring down at them, specifically at Jaden. Torrey recognized him, too. His name was Chazz Princeton, self-appointed heir to the title of 'King of Games' and world-class pain in the ass.

Jaden stared back at the boy for a few moments then waved at him. "Oh, hey. What's up? My name's Jaden. And he's… Chuzz, was it?"

The kid growled while Torrey started laughing. Jaden probably didn't mean to insult Chazz, but anyone who did was okay in his book.

"His name's Chazz Princeton, and he was the number one duelist back at Duel Prep School, so you make sure and pay the proper respects, got it?" The blue haired teen snapped.

"Yeah, he's gonna be the future King of Games, the best duelist in the world!" His friend added.

"If I could interrupt you both to point out that _I_ was top duelist in Prep School, and I was also the one voted most likely to be the next King of Games," Torrey mentioned, causing the two snobs to face-vault and Chazz to face-palm.

Jaden scoffed and crossed his arms over his chest. "Impossible."

"Say what?" Raizou asked once he recovered.

"You see, it's impossible for him to be the future King of Games because that's exactly what I'm gonna be," Jaden explained with a grin.

"Careful with claims like that, Jaden, there are a few other people in this room who covet that title," Torrey mentioned with a challenging smirk. The Hero duelist returned it.

The Obelisk boys stared at them before laughing at what they heard, but for a not so nice reason.

"Oh boy, here we go…" Torrey muttered.

The two boys then stopped laughing and then glared at Jaden. "A Slifer slacker as King of Games? That'll be the day."

" _ **Oh, how I wish I weren't a disembodied spirit in your world,"**_ Hiita the Fire Charmer appeared to see was happening. " _ **Then I could cause these chumps great pain."**_

Torrey just gave her a look that said 'Even if you could, I would say 'no.''

"Can it, you two!" A cold voice ordered. Chazz walked down the ramp a bit to get into their view some more. "Maybe the new kid's right."

"Whaddaya mean there, Chazz?" Taiyou asked, confused.

"He did beat Crowler after all, and that legendary rare monster of his. I suppose it takes some skill to pull that off."

"Got that right," Jaden said.

"Or was it luck? I say we find out right now." Chazz said in a cocky tone.

"Bring it!" Jaden challenged, his grin growing bigger.

"Hey, Syrus, we should sell tickets for this!" Torrey joked.

"Huh?" Syrus, of course, didn't get it.

"This sure is a motley crew." A new voice spoke up. They all turned to see Alexis Rhodes walking up to them.

"Whoa. Who is that?" Syrus asked.

Jaden shrugged, but Torrey recognized her from Prep School. She was probably the only person there he respected.

Chazz smirked. "Hey, Alexis. Have you come to watch me mop the floor with my new little friend Jaden here? It'll be a short duel, but an entertaining one for sure."

Alexis crossed her arms and lightly glared at him. "I'm here to remind you about the Obelisk Welcome Dinner. You're late."

"Oh, yeah," Chazz mumbled, getting up and walking away. "Come on, guys."

The other two followed him.

"Sorry if Chazz rubbed you the wrong way," Alexis said as she turned toward the group still there. "All of us Obelisks aren't like that. He's just a jerk, especially with Slifers."

"Aw, it's no big deal." Alexis looked at Jaden, surprised at the reaction.

"Those types don't really bother me at all," He explained. "Besides, I'd have beaten him in one turn."

"Really, Jaden?" Torrey questioned.

"We're gonna have to work on that overconfidence," Syrus commented.

"Ok, two turns. Maybe two and a half."

They all looked at him for a moment before they all started laughing, leaving Jaden confused. "What?"

Alexis then remembered something. "The Slifer Welcome Dinner's about to start, too."

"Right. We better go, Sy." Jaden said before running down the exit tunnel.

"Hey, wait up!" Syrus called as he ran after him.

Just before they left, Jaden stopped and turned back to the female Obelisk. "Oh, hey. What was your name again?"

Alexis blinked, surprised, then smiled. "Alexis Rhodes. And yours?"

"The name's Jaden," He replied. "All right, see ya around."

"Aren't you gonna introduce me?" Syrus asked, running after him.

"Jaden," Alexis whispered, testing out the name. She smiled as she watched to two boys run off.

"Well, this year will be fun," Torrey muttered, with a smile. "I should probably get going, too."

He smiled at Alexis before leaving the arena. She watched him go, smiling, thinking her friend was going to be happier here than he was at Prep School.

 _Obelisk Boy Dorm_

Later that evening, all the welcome dinners had started. The dinner at the blue dorm was like a fancy ball, with gourmet food, punch bowls, and classical music being played by actual musicians in the background.

Torrey couldn't care less. He was at something like this almost every week because of his adopted father having to go to parties to converse with his business buddies. He was sitting by one of the windows, looking out at the night sky, with a small plate of food next to him.

 _ **"Feeling tired?"**_ Torrey turned and found Witch of the Black Forest, nicknamed Elsa, sitting next to him.

Torrey shook his head. "No, just bored. I'll probably be at another one of these when I get home this summer."

Elsa giggled, knowing how much her duelist hated social events like this.

"Hi, there!" At the sound of a new voice, Torrey turned, and Elsa left.

Walking up to him was a duo of Obelisks who seemed kinder than some of the others. One was on the round side with dark blue hair and glasses, and the other was on the shorter side with brown hair.

"Hi…" Torrey said, not sure how to respond to these people.

"I'm Nick Warren, and this is my friend, Martin Hunt." The larger of the two introduced them.

"... Torrey Miller."

"Mind if we sit with you?" The shorter one, Martin, asked.

They didn't seem like bad guys, so Torrey nodded. The boys sat down and soon they started talking about a wide range of topics. Nick seemed like the cool, social one, while Martin was the quieter of the two. It took awhile, but the Spellcaster duelist started to open up to them.

This was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

 _Slifer Dorm_

After the dinners were over, Jaden was hanging out in his room with his roommates. "I'm stuffed. I'll tell ya; Professor Banner sure can cook. Wow."

"Yeah, and he seems like a pretty nice guy, as well." Syrus agreed, coming over to where the boys were sitting with a tray of tea mugs.

Chumley was up in his bunk like he was sleeping, but he was awake.

"With ya there, he's good people!" Jaden agreed, taking one of the cups. "Thanks!"

"Hey, Chumley, want some tea?" Sy asked the grouchy boy on the top bunk.

"Did I say I was thirsty?" Chumley responded rudely, turning away from them.

"Hey, he just asked if you wanted some tea, ya don't have to snap at him!" Jaden scolded.

"That's okay, Jaden. I'm used to it." Syrus said glumly.

"Duh, tea makes you wet the bed!" Chumley argued, then realized what he was implying. "Not that I do… or ever did… I mean, whatever, I'm trying to sleep!"

Before the conversation could go in any other direction, a beeping-ringing sound went off in the room. It was quickly determined that it was Jaden's PDA signaling he had a message.

Turning it on, it turned out to be a video message from Chazz. _"Hey, Slifer slacker, don't think you're off the hook. Tonight at midnight, it's on. Oh, and why don't we make things interesting? Whoever wins gets the other guy's best card."_

"Still, cool," Jaden said, closing his PDA. "Guess I'll get to duel at that arena after all."

"If that's Chazz you're dueling, all you got is trouble." Chumley pointed out.

 _Meanwhile_

Back at the Obelisk dorms, Torrey, Martin, and Nick were heading upstairs back to their rooms.

"Man, that was the best food I've ever eaten!" Nick said, feeling full. "My mom's got competition!"

"The food was pretty good." Martin agreed. "What did you think, Torrey?"

"I swear there was lobster with every entree." He said plainly.

"Not a fan of seafood?" Nick chuckled.

"Not that much of it." The other two laughed as their conversation went on another minute before reaching their assigned rooms, which were right to each other.

"Looks like we're all neighbors." Martin smiled.

"Seems like it," Torrey nodded before yawning. "Well, I'm probably going to go to bed. Night, guys."

"G'nite, Torrey!" The boys said before Torrey entered his room.

Finally, alone, it registered to Torrey how exhausted he was. He was used to being a loner and hanging out by himself. He didn't realize how much energy there was in human interaction. He was about to get ready to go to sleep when he caught a glimpse of something outside the window. It looked like a group of people heading down the path towards the main building.

"Huh?" He moved over to the window to get a better look.

Sure enough, there were people out there, specifically Chazz and his cronies. They also were heading to the main building, and Torrey caught a glimpse of a duel disk on Chazz's arm.

' _What's Chazz up to now?'_ He wondered.

Suspecting he had to go stop something before it got out of hand, Torrey quietly snuck out of his room and down the hall. He had to be careful not to disturb the other students or get caught by Dr. Crowler.

When he got to the main staircase, Torrey got the overwhelming urge to slide down the banister. Smiling playfully, he hopped up on the rail and slid down. Things went smoothly until he got to the bottom stair, where he had to jump off. He lost his balance when he landed and started to fall back until he hit what felt like a firm chest.

"Sorry-!" Torrey righted himself quickly before turning around to see who he ran into.

He recognized him almost immediately. The person he had bumped into was Zane Truesdale, a third year and the best duelist on campus. Torrey remembered him from when he was an upperclassman at Duel Prep School.

Zane regarded the Spellcaster duelist with a calm gaze. "You really should be more careful. The academy doesn't need to lose a talented duelist."

"Uh, right, sorry," Torrey scratched the back of his head. "I just saw some students sneaking out, and I was going to go get them."

The third-year Obelisk looked at him for a moment before nodding. "All right, I'll cover for you until you get back with them."

"Thank you!" Torrey nodded before heading out the door, feelings Zane's eyes on his back until he was outside.

He quickly made his way down the path he saw Chazz and flunkies head down. He was about halfway to the main building when…

"You know, there is a curfew in place…" A voice called out, making Torrey jump a mile high before turning around.

"Oh, Alexis, what's up?" He asked, trying to recover from his shock.

"Finding you sneaking out after hours, that's what." She said.

"Hey, I was trying to find out what Chazz and his sidekicks were up to when you caught me," Torrey said, trying to reason with her.

"What, why would Chazz sneak out at this hour?" She wondered.

"If we hurry, he can find out for ourselves." He offered.

"Alright, I believe you. Let's go." Alexis said as she and Torrey ran inside.

 _Back with the Slifers_

Meanwhile, Jaden and Syrus were already three hallways ahead of the Obelisk duo as they made their way to the arena.

"I'm not so sure this is a good idea, Jaden," Syrus said, nervous for his new friends.

"Good or bad, when someone challenges you to a duel, ya gotta step up. There's no choice." Jaden responded. Syrus made an unsure sound but didn't say anything else.

They reached the arena and found Chazz and his flunkies on the other side of the field. "Well, well, well. He shows."

"You better believe it. There was no way I was gonna miss this." Jaden walked over to the platform and climbed on.

"Wait up!" Syrus called, following the other Slifer.

"Time to find out if you beating Dr. Crowler was a fluke or a fact," Chazz said.

"Yeah, well we're gonna find out something else, too," Jaden responded. "Like which one of us is really the next King of Games."

"Yeah, yeah. Just make sure to have your best card ready to hand over when you lose."

"You too. Now, game on."

Both duel disks were now on, and their opening hands had been drawn.

"Duel!"

Jaden: 4000  
Chazz: 4000

"All right, slacker," Chazz drew his card and looked over his hand. "For my first move, I'll summon Reborn Zombie in defense mode."

Appearing on the field was a decaying zombie wearing a tattered cloak with gray hair and no eyes. Also, the bones on its right hand and foot were visible (1000/1600).

"And I'll also place one card face down." A facedown card appeared behind the zombie.

"I guess that's one way to start a duel," Jaden said. "But I'm gonna go a little bigger."

He drew his card and looked over his hand. As he did, he heard a familiar 'coo' sound and looked to see that his Kuriboh card had moved a little as if peeking out from hiding. "Hey, good to see ya, Winged Kuriboh. Maybe I'll use you later, but now…"

He took a card from his hand. "I'll play Polymerization, fusin' Elemental Heroes Avian, and Burstinatrix…"

The Hero duelist held up the cards of the two heroes mentioned above before they appeared in a flash of light. They then jumped into the air and started to glow, merging.

"And bringin' out Elemental Hero Flame Wingman in attack mode!" After another bright flash, the monster from Jaden's first duel appeared where the two previous Heroes were (2100/1200).

"I told ya I'd start big, didn't !?"

Chazz just smirked. "I was hoping you would."

"Why's that?" Jaden asked, not liking the sound of that.

"Because that card I just played face down was a trap, slacker, that you've set off!" Chazz gloated. "Chthonian Polymer, do your stuff!"

The face down rose up to show a picture of a man wrapped in flames.

"What's Chthonian Polymer's stuff?" Syrus asked.

"I had a feeling we'd find you guys here."

Syrus turned around to see Torrey and Alexis walking up to them, Alexis was the one who spoke. "Alexis? Torrey?"

"Chthonian Polymer's a nasty trap. It allows you to take control of an opponent's fusion monster by sacrificing one of your own creatures." Alexis explained.

"Oh, no. Jaden just summoned a fusion monster!" Syrus turned back to his friend.

"I sacrifice Reborn Zombie to gain control of your Wingman!" Chazz said, smugly.

His monster burst in a flash of light. Then Jaden's favorite hero disappeared in a smaller flash and reappeared on Chazz's side of the field. Only its colors were darker, and it had a dark raging aura around him.

"Aw, my monster!" Jaden groaned as he lost one of his best monsters.

"How did Chazz know to play that?" Syrus asked.

"Guess he did his homework for once," Torrey said. Alexis snickered at her friend's comment.

"You're so predictable, Jaden. You wouldn't stop talking about that Wingman at the exam, so I knew you'd use him soon." Chazz bragged.

"Still, since that Wingman was a special summon, that means I'm allowed to summon another monster during my turn," Jaden countered, looking back at his hand. _'Not that anything in my hand is a match for the Wingman.'_

Chazz was smirking up a storm. He had the monster responsible for Crowler's defeat on his side of the field, and he was enjoying every minute of it. _'Go on, you Slifer slacker. Play another monster. After all, I haven't forgotten the Flame Wingman's superpower!'_

"All right, I summon Elemental Hero Clayman in defense mode!" Jaden declared as he summoned a large, round man made of clay and mud with a red dome for a head to the field (800/2000). "There, all set."

"Yeah, set up to get knocked down! Rise, Chthonian Soldier!" Chazz drew his next card before summoning a man in dark armor with a giant sword next to the stolen Wingman (1200/1400).

"And now, Flame Wingman, attack with Skydive Scorcher!" The winged hero jumped into the air, flames covering its body, and dived down at the other Hero, destroying it. "And now, thanks to Wingman's superpower, your life points now take damage equal to your destroyed monster's attack points!"

Wingman landed in front of Jaden and unleashed a flame storm on him, engulfing Jaden in a pillar of flames that took off a small portion of his life points.

Chazz: 4000

Jaden: 3200

"But don't think for one second that I'm done yet, slacker! Chthonian Soldier, attack! Windstorm Slash!" Before Jaden had recovered from the last attack, he felt the blade go through him as the Soldier sliced into him.

Chazz: 4000

Jaden: 2000

"Shake it off, hero boy!" Torrey shouted from the sidelines. "You still have life points, so you're still in this! Show him that rank doesn't mean a thing here!"

Alexis' eyes never left the match, but she still heard Torrey. ' _Even though they're in different dorms, Torrey's rooting for Jaden to win over Chazz. I wonder if he sees something in Jaden that everyone else doesn't see?'_

Jaden had fallen to his knees by this point, and Chazz was loving every minute of it. "Are you starting to know your place here at the Academy yet? Maybe you were somebody back at home, but here in the big leagues, you're nothing but a pathetic little amateur, Slifer slime."

He paused to insert a couple of cards into the bottom row of his disk. "I'll end my turn with two facedown cards! Go ahead, slacker!"

Muffed sounds were heard as Jaden's shoulders started to shake. Chazz smirked even more. "Oh, what's wrong, baby? Are you crying?"

However, the 'crying' actually turned out to be laughter as Jaden lifted his head, a competitive smile on his face. "This is too fun!"

"What?" Chazz stared at him, not believing it.

"Just what I came for," Jaden said, wiping his chin. "Man, I mean, the trash talking, the action, it's all so great!"

"What the…"

"Wow," Torrey blinked, surprised by the Slifer's attitude. "Jaden wasn't kidding when he said types like Chazz didn't bother him."

"I summon Elemental Hero Sparkman!" Jaden played another monster. This Hero appeared human-like wearing a blue and gold suit with a curved blue helmet (1600/1400).

"All right, Sparkman, now! Attack with Static Shockwave!" The new Hero jumped into the air and fired a thunderbolt blast at the dark armored monster, destroying it with an explosion.

Chazz: 3600  
Jaden: 2000

As the smoke cleared, the Soldier's sword rose above them and flew straight at Jaden, hitting him in the stomach. In pain, Jaden doubled over but managed to stay on his feet.

"Still think it's great, slacker?" Chazz asked, smirking. "Because when Chthonian Soldier is destroyed, you receive the same amount of damage to your life points as I did. Difference is, you hardly have any to spare."

Chazz: 3600  
Jaden: 1600

"Fight back, Jay!" Torrey said, offering some motivational support. "1600 life points is more than enough to keep you in the game!"

"It's just a matter of time, slacker," Chazz goaded on. "Your best card's about to be all mine."

"This isn't over yet," Jaden said, inserting another card into his disk. "I throw down a face down."

"Play what you like," Chazz scoffed as he drew his next card. "My next attack will finish off your life points, and that attack's coming right now! Go, Flame Wingman!"

Flame Wingman's body began to be covered in flames again, but Jaden was ready this time. "Not so fast! That was a trap card I just threw!"

"A trap?" Chazz gasped. He hadn't seen that coming.

"It's Mirror Gate!" Syrus said in awe.

"Then Jaden's still in this duel after all." Alexis deduced Jaden's strategy.

"Um, someone mind filling me in? If it's not a general card or made for Spellcasters, then I'm in the dark." Torrey asked someone.

"Mirror Gate makes two monsters in a battle switch which side they're on, so now that Wingman is back with Jaden," Alexis explained as the monsters switched places. Sparkman appeared on Chazz's side of the field, and Flame Wingman appeared on Jaden's side.

"Yeah! Go, Wingman!" Jaden called.

The two heroes leaped at each other and grappled in the air, with sparks of both their powers flying in different directions. It didn't take long for Sparkman to succumb to defeat and be destroyed.

"NOOOO!" Chazz cried as he lost his advantage and some life points.

Chazz: 3100  
Jaden: 1600

"And just like you told me a while ago, don't forget my Wingman's superpower! You take damage equal to the attack points of your destroyed monster!" Jaden reminded him as Wingman sent remains of Sparkman's power back at Chazz, who yelled in pain as his life points dropped.

Chazz: 1500  
Jaden: 1600

"All right!" Syrus cheered, Jaden giving a peace sign over his shoulder.

"Take that, Chazz!" Torrey called.

"Nice moves, Jaden." Alexis praised.

"More like lucky moves if ya ask me, you Slifer school scum!" Chazz retorted, glaring daggers at Jaden and Torrey as he played his next card. "All right, I activate Chthonian Blast! Now, since you destroyed one of my monsters, I get to destroy one of yours, and you take damage equal to half of its attack points!"

A miniature tornado formed on the field and circled Flame Wingman, bursting him into pixels on the spot.

Chazz: 1500  
Jaden: 550

"Flame Wingman!" Jaden gritted as his monster was destroyed.

"Now, I activate the trap card Call of the Haunted!" Chazz continued as his second face-down popped up, showing a haunted graveyard.

"It lets me select one monster card from my graveyard and summon it back to the field in attack mode. Rise, Chthonian Soldier!" The dark armored warrior reappeared on the field (1200/1400).

"But he won't be staying on the field for long, because I'm going to sacrifice him to summon Mefist, the Infernal General!" Chthonian Soldier burst into pixels and then a dark armored, mounted horseman with a giant ax appeared (1800/1700).

"Not bad," Jaden commented, looking at the mounted horseman in front of him.

"Not bad?" Chazz looked at him before continuing. "You're something else, slacker, you know that? Acting all confident. But your lousy monsters won't get you out of this jam."

Jaden looked down at the only card in his hand before hearing the familiar voice of Winged Kuriboh. "I know he's wrong, Kuriboh. Because Chazz doesn't know that my monsters and I, we have a bond."

He drew his next card and smiled slightly. _'Speakin' of…'_

Before Jaden could make his move, Alexis turned to the entrance, thinking she had heard footsteps. Torrey noticed her behavior and became concerned. "What's up, Lex?"

When she realized she was right, she turned back to the group with wide eyes. "Uh, Guys? We've got company! Campus Security! If they find us all in here, we'll get seriously busted!"

"What?" Syrus yelped.

"Why?" Jaden asked, looking at her. "I mean, we're all students here."

Alexis huffed and pulled out her PDA. "The rules say no off-hour arena duels! Chazz knows that, but let me guess; he didn't tell you?"

The other Obelisk blushed at being found out.

"Just as I thought, you're up to no good again!" Torrey glared at Chazz, who returned it fully.

"Come on, let's go!" The blue haired Obelisk leaned forward from he was watching, the other one looking scared at the thought of getting caught.

"Well, well, slacker looks like you lucked out this time," Chazz said, turning to leave.

"What are you talkin' about? The match isn't over!" Jaden protested, wanting to finish his turn.

"Yeah, it is. I've seen what I came here to see. You're a sorry duelist. You beating Dr. Crowler was a fluke." Chazz then hopped off the platform and walked out of the arena.

"Jaden, we gotta get out of here!" Syrus urged his friend.

"Yeah, he's right." Alexis agreed, looking ready to bolt.

"Come on, let's go!" Torrey added.

"This stinks! I had this guy on the ropes!" Jaden complained, acting like a kid.

Torrey rolled his eyes before getting up on the platform and taking Jaden's arm. "Come on!"

The Obelisk all but dragged the Slifer off the platform and followed the others out of the arena. They turned off the lights on the way out, leaving nothing to tell security that anyone was in there.

After some close calls, they were soon outside the main entrance. It took longer to get out of there than in, partly due to Security walking around and the other half being Jaden. Torrey and Syrus had to take turns between dragging and pushing the Hero user.

"You certainly are stubborn, Jaden," Alexis commented when they finally got outside, seeing Syrus push Jaden the rest of the way.

"Only about my dueling." Jaden scowled. The other two guys sweatdropped.

"Thanks for showing us the back way out." Syrus thanked Alexis.

The Obelisk female smiled. "Sure. I'm sorry that you didn't get to finish your match with Chazz."

"It's ok. I know just how it would've ended anyway." The brunette Slifer shrugged.

"Really?" Alexis asked, Jaden turning to look at her. "No offense, but from my point of view, it looked like it could've gone either way between you and Chazz when you guys stopped."

"No way! Not after I drew this." Jaden showed her the card he had drawn before they had to make a run for it. It was the spell card Monster Reborn. Alexis gasped, amazed at the lucky draw.

"Let me guess," The Slifers and Alexis turned to Torrey as he explained. "You would have summoned Flame Wingman back to the field and destroyed Mefist, taking Chazz out with it."

"You got it! See ya!" Jaden smiled before he started walking back to the Slifer dorm.

"Hey, wait up!" Syrus called, running after him.

"Well, it's been a long night!" Torrey said, stretching. "Hopefully, it'll be my turn next time to wow the audience with my magic friends. See you tomorrow, Lex."

The blond Obelisk watched the boys leave before smiling slightly. _'This is going to be one interesting year.'_

 **And there's chapter two! Wow, two updates in one day, this is a good day.**

 **Yeah. Anyway, read, review, and stay tuned.**

 **Also, Happy Father's Day for all you loveable dads! Make some time your old man today!**


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